Over the past week, Donald Trump announced that he Will buy Tesla and Advertising company’s vehicles He has benefited his ally Tesla CEO Elon Musk in an event that turned the White House lawn into a showroom. He also said that destroying Tesla cars – as some demonstrators have done Protesting Musk – Acts that will be marked as “family terrorism”.
This is the latest and perhaps the most shocking example of a conflict of interest, which attracted Trump and Musk, who led the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a role that enables the world’s wealthiest people to target and work on the capabilities of any government agency that attracts his IRE.
This is nothing new. Trump’s first term and An unprecedented conflict of interest. However, this time, Trump took office in more business entanglements and leveraging the presidency to enrich himself. His social media company truth social is Now a publicly traded companyenable anyone to become a shareholder in the presidential business. He and his family have Crypto coins launched. Trump has one, too New Product License Agreement.
But when it comes to unprecedented conflicts of interest in this administration, the Tesla incident shows that Musk is the new elephant in the room. The businessman became one of the president’s closest advisors Spend hundreds of millions of dollars To help Trump win, now Directly affecting the organization Responsible for overseeing your own company. Of course there are other Trump appointees and nominees – Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik arrive Dr. Mehmet OzTrump’s Choice Leadership Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services – No conflict of interest Any one.
At this point, the public seems to have resigned from the fact that those in power also have enriched their own incentives. But in reality, there are people and processes that should protect us from this abuse. What are they, how do they break them down, how can we make them work?
How the government police themselves
Conflicts of interest arise when the personal interests of an official make decisions on behalf of the public. For example, when foreign officials spend money on Trump’s business, they create conflicts of interest for the president because he benefits greatly from his relationship with them. Although certain conflicts of interest are inevitable, rather than inherent corruption, they do increase the risk of corruption, and officials intend to promote their own personal interests rather than national interests.
Every branch of the government has ethical standards and conflict of interest rules. Although as ethical The scandal of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas It has been shown that they are not always executed.
In the executive branch, conflicts of interest are determined by regulations applicable to all federal employees Forbid someone from working They have financial interests and moral rules set by the White House.
One major limitation, though, is that these conflicts of interest laws do not apply to the president or vice president, which is why Trump is allowed to maintain all of his business while serving in the White House.
As for Musk, his reasons do not have the same moral standards as most other government employees. “The government has taken quite important steps to save Mr. Musk from accountability,” said Donald Sherman, executive director and chief consultant for Citizens and Ethical Citizens in Washington. “So they made him a special government employee, not a permanent employee, so he worked in the federal government while also maintaining his daily work.”
government A special identity has been pointed out – Usually Give to short-term consultants Who sits on the interim advisory committee or task force, which is why Musk does not have to disclose his financial disclosures, limiting the review to the entanglement of his business. (Previous governments could also doubt the identity of the People’s Special Government Employee, just as Huma Abedin served as an assistant to then Deputy Minister Hillary Clinton While maintaining external consulting)
So who is responsible for actually executing existing conflict of interest rules that can apply them?
“It’s mostly within the administration – within the government’s ethics office,” said Eric Petry. “There’s also a strong system of inspectors who should expose fraud, waste and conflict.”
The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) was established after the Watergate scandal. Before this, conflict of interest cases were mainly Handle through criminal investigation and litigation But OGE is for help Prevent conflicts of interest first. Responsible for reviewing the president’s political appointments,The office reviewed their financial disclosures, identified areas where conflicts of interest may arise, and proposed ethical agreements to resolve these conflicts, including Ask the appointed person to sell the assets. OGE still insists Officials disclosed databaseusually available to the public.
The Inspector General also plays an important role. They are independent supervisory bodies in a given agency Conduct audits and investigations Ensure that the agency and its employees comply with the law and prevent fraud and abuse. Although their investigations usually come in the form of public reports, inspectors can also refer the Justice Department, where crimes can be prosecuted.
As Petry pointed out, “But you’ve seen that the Trump administration does put these systems under pressure or just ignore them altogether.”
Indeed, Trump has launched a full-scale attack on these watchdogs. Dismissal of OGE’s director also At least 17 inspectors Among various federal agencies. Trump’s move also highlights potential conflicts of interest. He has at least one inspector general. Supervising investigation Enter a Musk company. Frankly speaking, these shots – Probably illegal – It is a major setback in the ability of the administrative department police.
Obviously, that’s design. From day one, Trump has little interest in promoting moral behavior. One of his first execution commands, e.g. Abolish the moral rules of the Biden era That Prohibit employees Accept the lobbyist’s gift. To be sure, although other administrations aren’t completely squeaking, the Trump administration’s way of dealing with ethical issues is deviating from its predecessor.
“Unfortunately, within the administration, some tools we usually seek for police conflict won’t work,” Peterri said. “So, that means we’re looking for other branches of the government.”
Congress and courts need to step up
The government blatantly disregards the ethical rules, highlighting that the regulations we have already enacted are obviously not enough. “The federal conflict of interest law does not apply to the president and vice president, and that’s a real problem,” Peterley said. “This is something Congress can and should change. There are some systemic issues here that need reform.” After Trump left the office in 2021, Some efforts to enhance ethical standards and supervisionand make sure the president and vice president are Conflict of Interest Rules No longer exempt. But these efforts failed to a large extent.
Nevertheless, different branches of government must actively work to hold each other accountable. As Trump undermines the executive’s ability to take responsibility, Congress and the courts must be more vigilant.
It seems like there is hope that there are too many Republican-controlled Congresses investigating potential conflicts of interest, but that is the work of the legislative branch. This is not unheard of either. Republican lawmakers in Trump’s first semester Supervise inquiries about presidential appointments. For example, former U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, e.g. Named Michael FlynnTrump’s former national security adviser may have violated the law for failing to properly disclose foreign government payments. (Flynn pleaded guilty to law enforcement lies, but The Justice Department finally gave up the case Oppose him Trump grants him pardon in 2020)
For example, where Congress is insufficient, the court can intervene. For example, Trump’s dismissal of the Inspector General is inappropriate because he neither issued 30 days notice to Congress as required by law nor provided substantial reasons for the Ombudsman’s general dismissal. So some of these inspectors Prosecution has been filed against Trumpsaying their firing was “illegal”.
“Unfortunately, this moment may be really painful for many, but hopefully it will create a rebound and public motivation to change the system we see after Watergate, after other crises and constitutional uncertainty,” Petri said.
That’s why the final defense against the conflict of interest that plagues the Trump administration is important. This is the role of the press and government overseeing organizations.
Trump was able to escape accountability to some extent because he was less publicly humiliated than other public officials. His corruption has always been rough and often public. As a result, many people seem to be insensitive to this abuse of presidential power.
But while public humiliation may not have an effective role for Trump, it may put pressure on other officials and agencies to take action. Even if there are no specific remedies for Trump or Musk’s conflict of interest, it is important to articulate them as people can demand more representation in the administration and put pressure on the administration. Therefore, the public should not resign, i.e., the ethical rules somehow make no sense under Trump’s leadership.
After all, this is the one who MPs have to answer the election time. And, voters may have some questions about the people who are really serving this administration.
“You don’t need to be an ethical expert, you have major questions about the level of this administration’s operation and whether it is conducting a violation of federal or criminal law,” said Sherman of the crew.
